FIFA to support 139 social projects in 58 countries

(IANS) World football’s governing body FIFA on Wednesday announced that it will allocate $4.3 million this year to support social development projects through 139 organisations in 58 countries all over the globe.

According to a statement released on FIFA’s official website, as the world celebrates United Nations’ International Day of Sport for Development and Peace on Wednesday, FIFA highlighted the daily work of those hundreds of organisations across the globe that are supported by FIFA’s Football For Hope initiative, reports Efe.

The staff and volunteers who reach out through soccer to tens of thousands of young people every day are the best example of football’s huge potential to contribute to social development.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “Football cannot change the world but it has the power to contribute to improving lives. As president of FIFA, I feel it is important that our institution, as the world governing body of football, supports, through its sustainability activities and in particular the Football for Hope initiative, organisations who are using football as a catalyst for positive social change.”

This year eight new organisations have joined the initiative, among them Canada Scores, an organisation that provides free after-school programmes for vulnerable children in Vancouver, and the Policy Center for Roma and Minorities, a group which focuses on reducing the drop-out rate among Roma and non-Roma children living in extreme poverty in Romania.

FIFA also stressed that all project proposals submitted to the Football for Hope initiative have to go through a rigorous selection process in which their track record, impact and long-term viability are reviewed.